California Cop Put On Paid Leave After Witness Claims To Catch Him Using The N-Word During A Traffic Stop

Share this article

A California police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after a witness claimed he used a racist slur during a traffic stop this past weekend.

According to The NY Daily News, two cops from the Vallejo Police Department — one male and one female — pulled over a white pickup truck on Saturday afternoon in connection with a carjacking investigation.

In a cell phone video recorded by bystander Leo Bruno, who lives in a house nearby, the two officers can be seen drawing their guns at the two men inside the truck, who have their hands raised. Bruno claims the male officer then shouted the N-word at a passenger before handcuffing and searching the men.

In an interview withCBS News, Bruno said he wanted to film the traffic stop in case the situation escalated into a police-involved shooting.

“All the fatal shootings over the past year, like Philando Castile, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin," Bruno said. “We were worried it was going to happen again right on our doorstep.”

The Daily News reported that CBS has since removed its interview with Bruno because the station is "questioning Bruno's account."

The police department has denied Bruno's claim that the officer used the slur, claiming the truck's passengers didn't hear it, though it's launched an internal investigation into the incident.

“The officer used profanity but there were no racial overtones,” Vallejo Police Lt. Kevin Bartlett told the Oroville Mercury-Register.